In what may prove to be a sign of the times, Orange County Community College in upstate New York recently announced it will replace its entire cafeteria staff with food kiosks. While most operations have not fully given up human employees in favor of automation, kiosks are being installed in some as a way to boost food program interest and offer greater efficiency. Here are four kiosks making their way into noncommercial foodservice.
Troup County School System in LaGrange, Ga., installed a permanent kiosk in one of its high schools. The kiosk sells coffee and protein smoothies, as well as a la carte items and grab-and-go reimbursable meals.
Staff added a layer of personalization by outfitting the kiosk with the school’s colors. The district plans on adding kiosks to two other high schools due to the current unit's popularity.
Corporate employees at H-E-B’s office in San Antonio will have a new way to order salads when the Sally Salad kiosk is piloted at their cafeteria this spring. Created by a tech company that designs robots for the food industry, Sally requires no human help aside from loading ingredients into the machine.
The kiosk, which weighs 350 pounds, selects from 20 ingredients, including chicken and romaine lettuce, to create over 1,000 different salads. Sally can make a salad in about one minute, and customers are able to access the salad’s exact nutritional information thanks to the kiosk’s precise measuring. Former Google chefs Kelly Olazar and Charlie Ayers (who is also the executive chef for Sally) created a line of signature salads for the kiosk.
After the middle and high school breakfast program at Holland Patent Central School District was shut down due to lack of participation, foodservice staff turned to kiosks to boost breakfast interest.
The kiosks at the Holland Patent, N.Y., district serve eight prebagged breakfasts such as yogurt and granola and charge the items to students’ lunch accounts, with discounts for those who qualify for free or reduced meals. The kiosks aren’t in service during lunch but are turned back on after school to supply snacks until 10 p.m.
The kiosks at Thornton Place—a senior-living community in Topeka, Kan.—don’t dispense any food, but instead offer a way for community members to give anonymous feedback on the foodservice. The kiosks allow residents to share what they liked and disliked about a meal as well as what they would like to see added to the menu.
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